Doll-house



K. SUYEHIRO.

DOLL HOUSE.

APPLICATION FILED MNA. 1919.

'1,343,065- mmm-fune 8,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

f In

K. SUYEHIRO.

DOLL HOUSE.

APPLICATIQN FILED JAN.4. 1919.

Patented June 8, 1920.

2 SHEETS-Smink ATTO RN EY -VVITNESSES KUNISUKE SUYEHIRO, OF EUREKA, UTAH.

DOLL-HOUSE.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, lUNIsUKE SU Yiii-rino, a subject 'of the Emperor of Japan, residing at Eureka, in the county of J uab and State of Utah, have invented a new and useful Doll-House, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to doll houses, and more particularly to that class which is capable of being folded o r knocked down for the purpose of storage or for shipment in large quantities so as to occupy a small space.

The principal object is to provide a toy or doll house of this character which may be easily set up in the form of a house by a child or other person, and having certain foldable and detachable parts which may be nested into a compact form.

Another object is to provide such a toy having all the external appearance of a genuine house and, at the same time, having means for ready access to the interior thereof, in order that the same may be in constant view and that articles such as dolls and miniature furniture, etc., may be readily placed therein or removed when it is desired to collapse the house.

A full and complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification; it being understood that while the drawings show a practical form of the invention, the latter is not conlined to strict conformity therewith, but may be changed or modified, so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention, as specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, in which like reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several figures- Figure l is a perspective view of the doll house as it appears from the front thereof;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same as it appears from the rear'thereof;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the house in folded or knock-down position;

Fig. 4 is a detail horizontal sectional view through one corner of the house, adjacent to the front porch when the same is in set-up position; and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application ledanuary 4, 1919. Serial No. 269,560.

F ig. 5 is anl elevation of a portion of a slightly modified form of the structure.

Many doll houses of intricate structure have been devised having' removable walls, or removable stories, etc., requiring interlockin e means and other features that cause the same to be so expensive as to be beyond the reach of the average persoinrand at the same time such houses, while very pleasing to the eye and entertaining' to the child, have the disadvantage of being inaccessible, thus rendering it impossible for the child rto dispose or arrange dolls, furniture, etc., at will within the rooms of the house. In addition to this, such houses are often easily broken and in many cases are soon tired of, thus causing' a useless expenditure for a costly toy. Great demand is felt for a simple, cheap article of this class having all the necessary features in imitation of a real house, and which may be manufactured of common materials and in such a simple manner as to be sold at an extremely low cost.

rllhe present invention is designed to ill such a demand, and by the employment of the parts hereinafter enumerated and described, it has been found that a very pleasing and efficient toy house of this class has been provided having the advantages stated above.

The front wall l is shown as of a familiar type of house front having its upper edge formed into an apex and extending upwardly in imitation of a gabled roof and provided in proper spaced relation to the ground line withl representations of lowerliocr windows 2 2, while located in the upwardly-extending portion thereofV is a similar representation of an upper-hoor window 3, having a small portico Ll arranged around the lower part thereof. f

The front wall is preferably formed of heavy stiff pasteboard, and is provided with a marginal border, preferably formed of wooden strips 5, extending entirely around the front wall and having suitable grooves or kerfs G into which the marginal edges of the pasteboard comprising the front wall l are seated and secured as by gluing, or in any other suitable manner. rlhe wooden strips 5 serve to strengthen and stiffen the structure and also provide suitable means vfor the attachment of certain parts to be described.

portico 44 kare suitably secured to the hori-` zontally-disposed strengthening strip 7 and serve to hold the said portico securely in place.

The wooden strips 5 5 comprising the roof timbers are adapted to support relatively narrow roof members 9 9 formed of strips of wood, beveled at their upper, abutting ends, at 10 10, to represent the gable' of the roof, and having their upper surfaces painted to represent shingles in imitation of a common stylezof roof. These members 9 9 may be secured to the adjacent inclined strips 5 5 by small nails 11 11 which may be easily withdrawn, or by simple pins htting in suitable sockets. Furthermore,the members 9 9v may be hinged together at their beveled ends 10-10, in which event they may be satisfactorily held in place without the use of nails or pins.

A front door 12 is preferably located between the lower windows 2 2 and is suitably hinged so as to swing inwardly or outwardly as desired.

Secured to the outer edges of the vertical marginal strips 5 5, as by a flexible strip of paper or cloth 13, as indicated in Fig. 4 of the drawings, are oppositely disposed porch members 14-14 composed of pasteboard and suitably scored at an intermediate point along a vertical line and adapted to be bent to forni each an end Vwall 15 and a front wall 16, the end walls being inclined,

Y edge than at its rear edge, where the same is hinged to the lower edge of the horizontally disposed stiffening strip 7, as by a strip of cloth or paper in the same manner as the porch member 1'4-14, and is adapted to be folded down over the latter after the same are swunginwardly to lie fiat against the frontrface of the house-front 1, as illustrated in` Fig. 3 of the drawing.k

The porch roof 17 is likewise painted to represent shingles upon the upper surface thereof, and is further provided with a plurality of alined slots 18 arranged adjacent to the front edge thereof in a position to receive upwardly extending tongues 19 formed integrally with the front portions of the porch members 14 and arranged at the inner and outer edges thereof. rlhese tonguesl serve to securely hold the roof in positionl and prevent the porch members 14 from moving from their angularly bent position, with their lower edges resting on the fioor or other support, thus forming a partially inclosed porch, the inner opposed edges of the members 14 being spaced apart to form an entrance opposite or in front of the aforesaid door 12. A

The end andv front panels of the, porch members 14 14 are cut out as indicated at 2O and 21 respectively, thus forming intermediate angular corner posts 22 and inner terminal posts 23, all of which serve to maintain the porch roof in position. The panels, below the respective cut out p0rtions 2() and 21 arev painted to vrepresent a rail and vertical bars in imitation of those in common use. Y

Side walls 24, composed vof pasteboard e,and having their marginaledgessecured to interfitting wooden strips 25, in the same manner as the house front 1 are secured, preferably by metallic hinges 26, to thev rear edges of the vertical wooden strips 5 of the front 1v and are adapted to extend, when the house is in set-up position, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, in a rearwardly direction and at rightangles to the front for the purpose of forming an inclosure therebetween, wherein dolls and miniature furniture may be manipulated at the pleasure of the child engaged in playing with the toy. Theseside walls, which areV only as high as the height of the vertical portion of the. front 1' may have representations of windows, as at 2T, and other ornamentation, such as vines, etc. placed thereon wherever desired, and they are adapted when in folded position, to lie fiat against the rear face of the front 1, as

shown in `Fig. 3, a supplemental strip 28, of

equal thickness to the marginal strips 25 of the side walls, being. interposed between the front edge of one of said side walls and the adjacent Vedge of the front 1, to which the adjacent hinges are secured, in order topprovide the necessary space lfor thev other side wall to beV folded therebetween, as` will be understood.

ln order to render the interior of the inclosure more accessible the rear wall of the house or room is left open, to be closed by a pair of curtains 29, reachingto the floor or other support and suitably hemmed as at 30, along their upper-edges, for the reception of a curtain-supporting wire rod 31, having its ends bent to form spring cli-ps 32 which are sprung over the top edges of the side walls, near their rear extremities to perform the double function of supporting the curtains 29 and to hold the-side walls rigidly in right-angular relation to the front wall 1 of the structure, the wire composing the rod `vention, wherein the front wall is divided into two vertical sections lawltL having the marginal stifl'ening strip as in the first-described form and adapted to be secured t0- gether, by removable pins traversing alined eyes 33. rlhe side walls, hinged to the front, as at 26a262 are in turn vertically divided into two sections 24a-24C and hinged together as at Bt-34% so that, when desired, the entire structure may be compactly folded into a small bundle for storage or shipping.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a simple and attractive toy house has been devised, which may be manufactured from the cheapest materials, and sold at a minimum price, and that the saine may be easily knocked down or set up by a child, it being only necessary when folding the same, to unseat the tongue 19 from their inserted positions within the slots 1S and to fold the members let-i4 one upon the other against the front face of the house front l, and then to remove the wire member 3l together with the curtains, from engagement with the sides 2li-2a, when the latter may be in like manner folded against the rear face of the member l, and after removing the roof members 9-9, the same may be placed together with the curtains and the rod beneath the folded side walls and safely placed away for further use, or may be advantageously packed in quantities for shipment.

rl`he dell house may be made in many different styles, as will be readily understood and still retain the features of the present invention, and in the case of larger houses it may be found advisable to make the entire structure of wood, in which event it might be desirable to form the windows by actual openings, instead of merely representing the same, as in the illustrated form of the invention, and to supply panes of isinglass or other material and to provide shutters for the same. ln this form of house it would also be advisable to forni the porch of wooden pieces, hinged together with metallic hinges and the entire structure coated by suitable waterproof paint so that the same can be washed and kept in a clean condition.

l claim as my invention l. A doll house comprising a front wall shaped` and ornamented to simulate the front of a house having a porch and porch roof, and constructed so as to be supported upon a floor, rearwardly extended side walls hinged at their front edges to the opposite front edges of the front wall so as to fold inwardly and adapted to be folded dat one upon the other against the rear face of the front wall, said side walls being shaped 2. A doll house comprising a front wall, Y

rearwardly extending side walls hinged at their front edges to the opposite side edges of the front wall and adapted to be folded against the rear face thereof, foldable porch members hinged at their rear edges to-the front face of the front wall and at the opposite side edges thereof, said porch members haif'ing hingedly connected end and front walls, tongues extending up* wardly from the said front portions, a porch roof hingedly connected to the front face of the front wall for vertical swing ing movement and provided with alined slots for the reception of said tongues when the porch members are in open position, a rod having terminal clips for engagement with the upper edges of the side walls near their rear ends, and curtains hung on the rod to form the rear wall of theinclosure.

3. A doll house comprising a front wall, foldable porch members hinged to the opposite edges of the same and adapted to be folded flat against the front face thereof, each porch member being composed of an end and a front portion vertically hinged together to form angularly bent corners, each front portion having upstanding tongues, a horizontally disposed porch roof hinged for vertical swinging movement to the front face of the front wall and'having alined slots for the reception of the tongues when the porch is in extended position, foldable side walls hinged to the rear face of the front wall and at the opposite side edges thereof, said walls being adapted to be folded flat against the rear face of the front wall or to be extended at right angles thereto, and a curtain supporting rod engaging with said walls to maintain them in extended position.

ln testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own l have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of a witness.

KUNISUKE SUYEHIRO. lVitness:

Giro. HoULn. 

